There's good news for those of us who missed out on catching Britney Spears during her Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood, which ended on New Year's Eve. Sources close to Spears say she's not ready to leave Las Vegas just yet, and a new deal may be in the works to keep her there.
Multiple sources have now toldUs Weekly that Spears has already signed a new deal to begin performing at the Las Vegas Park Theater inside the Monte Carlo Resort. That's the same spot where Lady Gaga is set to kick off a residency beginning in December, and Ricky Martin, Cher and Bruno Mars already have recurring performances booked there, making it one star-studded venue to catch a show in. Obviously, the addition of a Spears residency would only enhance the theater's existing lineup.
"They are really trying to compete with some of the more established venues in Las Vegas," one source explained.
Another source dished that Spears is taking a little break from regular Vegas performances because her new deal isn't set to start until 2019. But between now and when she takes the stage again, don't expect her to go anywhere.
"They made the offer and she just couldn’t refuse. She loves Vegas!" another source said.
It's no wonder Spears is loving the Vegas life. A residency gives her a stable and steady schedule, which is a great deal for the mom of two boys. "The schedule was perfect for her and her kids," one source explained, "So why not continue?"
This is great news for Spears, but even better news for her fans. If you still haven't seen Spears live, this means you have another chance. Get ready to check out Vegas flight prices!
Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is involved in a lawsuit that was originally about money he allegedly owed to his former manager. It's evolved, however, into something a whole lot bigger and more complicated, and it may point to immigration fraud in Hollywood. Yikes.
Coster-Waldau is a Danish actor who has played Jaime Lannister since the beginning of the hit HBO series. He's been involved in a dispute with his former manager, Jill Littman, who claims he owes her commissions from after he fired her because she says she and Coster-Waldau have a verbal agreement that even though she is no longer his manager, she's still entitled to some earnings from his Game of Thrones contract. Coster-Waldau filed a lawsuit against Littman to contest this, saying he owes her nothing since he fired her.
To fight the lawsuit, Littman provided the courts with a signed agreement that was part of Coster-Waldau's visa application, which has an arbitration clause — basically, it says he can't sue her without first attempting private arbitration. Coster-Waldau is refusing to arbitrate, and his lawyer called the document a "sham" that only existed to secure a visa for Coster-Waldau to work in the U.S.
This is where things get really dicey. That document was signed by both Littman and Coster-Waldau. It's a felony for someone to submit false documents in a visa application, so if Coster-Waldau is actually trying to prove the document isn't legally binding, he may be implicating himself in an immigration fraud case. His lawyer states that if anyone committed immigration fraud, it was Littman, who sponsored Coster-Waldau's visa.
The #TimesUp movement swept Hollywood last weekend. Dozens of celebrities donned black for the Golden Globes and gave riveting speeches about why they'll no longer be silent about sexual harassment and assault, income inequality and the sexism that plagues industries from agriculture to entertainment. Plenty of female celebrities made headlines for fearlessly calling out disparities in pay and representation in media.
But as inspiring as these moments were, perhaps nothing compared to Oprah Winfrey's acceptance speech in which she urged "all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon." Finally, someone mentioned children.
As we talk about the longstanding culture of silence surrounding inequality and sexual misconduct, we often omit kids from the conversation, seemingly forgetting that we learn from an early age it's easier and more comfortable to stay silent than to stand up. So we asked the kids from Hatch, our initiative to encourage kids to use technology and media responsibly, to share with us why and when they don't speak up in the face of harassment — and their answers were heartbreaking.
Over the course of the two-minute video, the Hatch kids revealed they've either been bullied or have witnessed their peers being bullied — because of everything from their religion to their bodies — online or in group text chats.
"High schoolers made a group chat, and they were saying, like, racist, anti-Semitic things, homophobic things. And comparing, like, a girl to a whale," one of the teens said.
Kids Discuss #TimesUp
Kids Discuss #TimesUp
Another shared that she had been harassed on Instagram by an account called SkankHunt127. The person or people behind the account said they wanted to kick her in the throat and told her she was the reason her parents got divorced.
How do kids respond to that kind of torment? Do they even feel empowered to respond at all?
"If I stand up to them, I'm also going to be targeted, when I did nothing wrong," one teen said. Others chimed in to add that many kids their age don't want to be perceived as "tattletales" — so they often stay silent rather than be accused of stirring up trouble by speaking out.
"It's really hard to blow the whistle," one teen said. "You want to stand up, but you don't want to stand out."
Thankfully, there are many ways we can help. One is to watch for the subtle signs of hurtful behavior and lead by example by calling it out when we see it. Another is to let our kids know there are countless adults — their teachers, coaches, friends' parents and, of course, you — who will happily listen to and support them. #TimesUp on silence, and it's on all of us to create meaningful, lasting change.
How we experience our sexuality has a lot to do with bodies: how we like to touch and be touched, how we respond to different kinds of stimulation or illness or physiological issues that may change our sexual desire and responses. But that’s not the whole picture. A big part of our sex lives is defined by the things we have learned about sex, by what we think and how we think about sex and by what we know and believe about relationships.
Even though there are certain medical issues that can impact our sex lives, many who face sexual health challenges should look to their minds rather than their bodies. Just like we know the placebo effect is real, we understand that sometimes what seems like a physical problem can be all in our heads. I spoke with Dr. Logan Levkoff, AASECT-certified clinical sexologist and sex educator, about how our minds can affect our sexuality.
“There’s a great deal of sexual implications that come from our psychology, our education, our upbringing and the messages we get from culture and the media," she explains. "These things contribute to how we see ourselves as sexual beings and how we understand sexuality, consent and relationships."
Where do we get our beliefs about sexuality?
Regardless of the culture we grow up in, we hear messages about sexuality from it all the time. What is consent? What are the sexual roles of men and women? When is it appropriate or not to have sex with a partner? What kinds of relationships allow for sex? Are masturbation, pornography and nonheterosexual relationships acceptable?
And as with many cultural messages, sometimes, they don’t match our desires or our experience. Take queer sexuality, for example. Before the gay rights movement, many LGBTQ people felt they had a “disordered” sexuality that required treatment. Homosexuality was considered a mental illness until 1973. The messages around nonheterosexual desire made some people feel distressed about their desires, leading them to believe they were broken or wrong.
“It’s impossible to consider what it means to be sexually healthy without having a really good understanding of the messages that we receive,” says Levkoff.
Like it or not, a big part of our sexuality is culturally determined. There are no “inherently natural” acts or roles; as author Yuval Noah Harari notes in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, if it's physically possible for humans to do, then it’s “natural." The concept of what's normal and abnormal is based on cultural beliefs.
The role of shame
According to Levkoff, the way we internalize those cultural messages can lead us to feel shame about our sexuality. “If we feel an ounce of shame about who we are, our identity, consent or speaking up, it can have significant physical and mental sexual health outcomes," she says. "That’s when we have trouble giving consent or discussing boundaries.”
Everyone, but women especially, is being shamed all the time. Too slutty or too prude; if you’ve been assaulted or raped, it’s your fault; you should be thin but curvy… the list goes on. In our sexual lives, shame stops us from exploring our identity and desires and from expressing our sexuality in the ways that feel authentic to us.
“We need to give ourselves the freedom to think about what we want as sexually healthy people,” Levkoff explains. “Acknowledging our wants, desires and needs impacts our self-esteem, our voice and our power.” When shame tells us we’re bad people for wanting what we want, we need to fight it with authenticity and honesty.
Throw away the script
Our thoughts and beliefs about sex can lead us to a wonderful, fulfilling sex life; or it can fill us with shame and guilt. Levkoff insists there is no right or wrong way to experience sexuality and "no one else is allowed to define your sexuality for you.” The power is in your hands to throw away the scripts being hurled at us from every direction and to write our own sexual story.
When it comes to sex, our psychology matters just as much as our physiology — if not more. We may be perfectly physically healthy, but if we believe our sexuality is wrong or disordered in some way, a satisfying sex life will remain out of our reach. So when you face issues in your sexual life, you should certainly consult a doctor to eliminate any physical causes; but more often than not, the root of the problem is psychological.
Here's some shocking news: Babies get hungry when they're out in public. Sometimes, they even get hungry when they're (*gasp!*) in a church. And while some would urge mothers to step out of mass and into a tiny bathroom stall to feed their children, Pope Francis is down with women breastfeeding right there in their pews — even in the Sistine Chapel.
According to CNN, Pope Francis reminded parishioners of his progressive (and totally natural) stance while gathered for an annual baptism ceremony at the Sistine Chapel last Sunday.
"We will now continue the ceremony; and if they start doing the 'concert,' it's because they're not comfortable," Francis told the congregation. The "concert" he's referring to here is when babies start to cry in a seemingly orchestrated fashion. "Babies have their own dialect. If one starts to cry, the others will follow, like in an orchestra," the pope explained.
So, what happens when the cry-concert starts in church? Well, "either they're too hot or they're not comfortable or they're hungry," Francis told the congregation. "If they're hungry, breastfeed them, without fear, feed them, because that's a language of love."
Yeah, he's not like a regular pope; he's a cool pope. Especially since this isn't the first time he's mentioned that women can and should publicly breastfeed in the Sistine Chapel. In fact, he encouraged breastfeeding during last year's baptism ceremony and even likened the practice to how the "Virgin Mary nursed Jesus."
The pope's comments come during a time in which women are still shamed for breastfeeding in public places or even for posting breastfeeding photos online, despite all of the heavily researched and documented evidence indicating that breastfeeding is not only natural but also incredibly beneficial for both mother and baby. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reports that breastfeeding bolsters an infant's immune system while promoting both healthy weight and cognitive development. And women who breastfeed may reduce their risk for diabetes and cancers such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
Got that yet? Breastfeeding is healthy and normal. But above all, fed is best, and it's totally up to the mother how she decides to feed her newborn, be it breastfeeding or pumping or formula or all of the above. That freedom of choice, without judgment or humiliation, should also extend to when and where women choose to feed their babies.
By giving his stamp of approval on breastfeeding in church, Pope Francis is making it safer for moms and babies everywhere who are merely doing what they need to do to survive. We can only hope his stance will resonate with others who may be stuck living in the Old Testament.
Finding out your unborn baby’s sex is no longer the private moment it once was. In simpler times, your doctor would maybe make a joke about “hamburger or hot dog” on a sonogram or you’d just get a call from the office with your blood test results. But in the age of social media, epic sex-reveal (or "gender-reveal," as they're commonly and incorrectly called since we all know by now gender presentation is a social construct and is totally up to your kid, right?) celebrations are suddenly a thing. Yep, smoke bombs, filled doughnuts, confetti cannons, chalk-filled baseballs — all these implements are now par for the course when discovering what type of genitalia your future child is packing. At least these parties are good for photographs.
So if you’re an expecting overachiever, perhaps you’d like some inspiration for a truly, um, impressive baby sex-reveal shindig. Here are some options for going that extra mile, from a motorcycle surprise to a week of partying to a wild new hair color. Check out these extreme gender reveals — and copy them if you dare.
A Mardi Gras-style parade
Los Angeles mom Sarah Bardo attended a doozy of a sex reveal for her Seattle-based friends. “We all met up in New Orleans and spent the week hanging out and exploring the city,” she says of the occasion. During the festive trip, the parents-to-be met their crew at a bar to find out the sex of their first child. “They opened a box, and a bunch of pink hats and boas and such came out,” says Bardo. “We put an ‘It’s a girl’ dollar bill on the wall in the bar, and then a band started playing.”
Yes, our jaws were on the floor at this point too. But wait, there's more. “The band led the way, and we had a parade down Bourbon Street, throwing pink beads and dancing in the streets,” recalls Bardo. “It was epic.” Sorry, chill parents. That pink or blue Funfetti cake might be looking a little lackluster right about now.
Image: Getty Images/Design: Mike Commins/SheKnows
A painful reveal — literally
Talk about taking one for the team. This dad-to-be was injured while learning the sex of his child. “I shot a paintball gun at my husband,” says Valley Village, California, mom Chelsea Ellington of their unique reveal. (The couple captured the painful event on video — check it out for yourself on YouTube.) A friend of the Ellingtons opened the envelope from the doctor containing the info about the baby's sex; then, they put either blue or pink paintballs into the paintball gun. “I took the gun and opened fire on my husband,” reminisces the sharpshooting mom of one. Um, terrifying? Are they excited to tell their soon-to-be kid this? Also, are pregnant women even supposed to be around paintball guns?? “It was a lot of fun!" Ellington insists. "My husband had a couple of bruises, but we actually had the gun turned down pretty low, so it wasn’t as painful." Not as painful. Reassuring.
Painful Baby Reveal
Painful Baby Reveal
A luxe light show
If you want to go all-out and throw a luxe party, consider a sex reveal from Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. The Florida hotel offers three ways to showcase the sex of your unborn child: tossing bath bombs into the pool turning it blue or pink; throwing darts at balloons filled with pink or blue paint; lighting the pool up blue or pink as the sex of the baby is announced. The resort lights up in pink or blue... and then the party starts! Options for your party package include beverages in pink or blue, a lunch buffet and “gender-inspired snacks” (um, please no) such as blue Terra chips, beet chips, dyed deviled eggs or frozen yogurt. Are you running for the hills? But just think of the Instagram posts!
Blog Grey Likes Baby showcased stunning images from stationery designer Abby Hollar (of Consider the Lilies Paper) and her husband Julian Hollar’s Redondo Beach, California, reveal. The couple and 20 pals gathered on the beach dressed in white, closed their eyes and waited for the go to toss a whole lot of pink powder into the air. Some amazing photos resulted — it’s like a Pinterest dream.
Rochelle Graham-Campbell (founder & CEO of Alikay Naturals) incorporated her husband’s love of motorcycles into their reveal, which has over 11,000 views on Instagram. (You can also view the video on YouTube.) Graham-Campbell, who is currently pregnant, stood with her son London while her husband revved a motorcycle — and a cloud of pink swirled around them. “Rochelle planned the whole thing in just a few days, researching the powder online,” says her publicist, Yvonne Leslie. “Rochelle loves the idea of gender reveals that have a wow factor and enjoyed all of the planning that went into bringing her fun vision to life.”
Motorcycle Madness baby reveal
Motorcycle Madness baby reveal
A medium-gory buck-hunting (?!?) reveal
Valencia, California, mom Emily Carpenter wanted to get her hunter husband excited about their upcoming bundle of joy, so she painted a buck on some wood and had him shoot a compound bow at a balloon filled with paint to find out. Magenta paint splattered! “I was pretty sure that it was going to be a girl, but I know everyone was pretty surprised,” says Carpenter of the reveal. “Most of our wives' tale checklist went towards boy.”
Image: Getty Images/Design: Mike Commins/SheKnows
A serious dye job
Amanda Parrish’s salon-set reveal went viral — for good reason. The expectant mom had Rapid City, South Dakota, hair stylist Amber Sacrison dye her hair pink or blue, and she’d only view the final reveal. And behold: Amanda found out her baby’s sex and her own new hair color all at once. That’s a lot to take in, but she was unfazed. "It was awesome. I loved being a part of something like that,” Sacrison told Today of the fun sex reveal, which was her idea. “To see their happiness was just amazing to me.” Currently Sacrison’s Facebook video has over 8.5 million views, so clearly it was amazing to others as well. Oh, and the new mom's hair color? Royal blue, folks.
Hair-Raising Baby Reveal
Hair-Raising Baby Reveal
So there you have it. If you’re looking for ways to reveal your baby’s sex that are really out of the box, rest assured there is no shortage of weird, weird ways. Then again, you could always do it the old-fashioned way and find out the sex when the kid is born. Now that would be truly weird, wouldn't it?
Yes, Valentine's Day has become a totally overcommercialized mess — but it's still the perfect opportunity to let little romantic gestures shine. And who couldn't use a chance to celebrate love in their life a little more?
Though you might be hard-pressed to find someone who will actually turn away a box of chocolates, there are plenty of other things you can do to show your love that are a million times more meaningful than buying things. We've come up with 100 little ways to be lovey-dovey to celebrate Valentine's Day — no credit card needed.
Remember, the simplest things can go a long way in your relationship.
100. Send your sweetie a sweet, short and sexy text or email. (Not to a work email!)
99. Leave a little note in his/her briefcase or laptop bag so they will find it when they get to work.
98. When your significant other gets home, be waiting in the bedroom dressed in your favorite sexy lingerie (or nothing at all!)… you know what happens next.
97. Plan a surprise outing! Start with dinner at your partner's favorite restaurant, then reveal tickets to a show or sports game.
96. Take a hot-air balloon ride together.
95. Surprise him/her with that special something they have been coveting (no matter how big or small).
94. Send flowers or cookies for no reason at all.
93. Take the dog for a walk or complete another "chore" your partner usually tackles.
92. Stock the fridge with his/her favorite beer or wine and the shelves with his/her favorite snacks.
91. Stop by your sweetie's office around lunchtime with his/her favorite noontime nosh.
90. Take a drive together — car trips provide some of the best time for talking one-on-one.
89. Snuggle after sex — even if you are tired.
88. Give a back massage.
87. Offer a foot rub — without asking for one in return!
86. Fill up your partner's gas tank.
85. If he/she comes home after a night with friends way past the time he/she said they would, let it go.
84. Make breakfast in bed.
83. Stay in bed all day — pajamas optional.
82. Take a late-night, hand-in-hand stroll around your neighborhood.
81. Sign up for a class you know he/she has wanted to take together.
80. Make up silly nicknames for each other that you only call each other in private!
79. Make a mouse pad (or a mug or a calendar) with your picture on it (or your pet's picture).
78. Start a new hobby together.
77. Do something nice for his/her mother, brother, sister, etc.
76. Let him/her pick the movie this time.
75. Make a special dinner.
74. When your sig-o gets home, hand him/her a glass of wine, sit down together and talk about your days.
69. Leave a note for your sig-o to meet at his/her favorite bar or club. When he/she arrives, do some fun role-play and pretend you are meeting for the first time.
68. Wash his/her car and leave a love note on the air freshener.
67. Do his/her laundry if you don't usually own this chore.
66. Recreate your first date — then recall all the feelings you had for each other that very first night.
65. Make a creative coupon book (free massage, free night out with the guys, etc.) without an expiration date!
64. Book a couple's massage.
63. Plan a romantic getaway to a bed and breakfast.
62. Dedicate a day to the one you love — plan a day filled with his/her favorite things.
61. Plan a surprise party.
60. Send him/her a nice (or naughty!) card. Even if you live together, mail it!
59. Take out the trash. Again, this only works if you don't usually do it.
58. Buy a calendar and fill it with important dates (our first dinner together, our three-year anniversary, etc.).
57. Have a romantic/sexy photo session done together or have sexy pictures taken of yourself and make a private album for your partner.
56. Make a big deal out of the holidays.
55. Scatter rose petals on the bed
54. If he/she has to work late, have his/her favorite takeout delivered to the office, and prepay, of course!
53. Have a talk about the future and let him/her know that he/she is a part of it (even if you're married, this is a nice reminder).
52. Buy his/her favorite perfume or cologne, and simply put it in the medicine cabinet for him/her to discover.
51. Declare a day of the week "your" day — always spend that day together, even if you just snuggle on the couch together.
47. Explore your adventurous sides together — do something daring that neither of you have tried before, such as bungee jumping or skydiving. The experience will bring you closer.
46. Designate a place as "yours" — your favorite restaurant or bar — and vow to frequent it together often.
45. Volunteer together. Work side-by-side at your local animal shelter, nursing home or as you gather donations for your local food bank.
44. Take him/her to an art gallery or art walk.
43. Arrange to have a house cleaner come to his/her place and spruce things up!
42. Introduce him/her to your best friends. Actions speak louder than words.
41. Walk him/her out when he/she leaves for work. In long-term relationships, it's easy to get in the habit of forgetting a kiss goodbye. So start it again.
40. Make him/her a special bag lunch with a note written on a napkin inside.
39. Get a subscription to his/her favorite magazine.
38. If he/she has a business trip, offer to drive to the airport.
37. Leave a sweet note on a Post-it on his/her car windshield or steering wheel.
36. Flirt with him/her unabashedly.
35. If your sig-o has been working out extra hard or dieting, compliment their progress.
34. Rent some silly comedies and spend the night laughing together.
Everybody wants to be in love… and nobody wants to talk about what it’s really like once you get there. Whether it’s petty arguments, existential crises, heartbreak or finding a new partner, love isn’t all fairy tales.
We love the following podcasts because they’re some of the few places that really explore the reality of relationships — the good, the bad and the painful and confusing. Whether they’re advice columns or audible artistic creations, each of these podcasts helps to illuminate what it means to be intimate with others and what it teaches us about ourselves.
1. Modern Love
If you’re a fan of The New York Times column by the same name on how people do — and do not — fall in love, you’ll love the Modern Love podcast too. They're the columns you love narrated by voices you recognize.
2. Love Is Like a Plant
A podcast about dating, loneliness, love, breakups and making it work, Love Is Like a Plant explores the central question of how we make love grow.
3. I Do Podcast
Whether it’s learning to be more intimate, managing stress, handling the holidays or dealing with infidelity, the I Do Podcast discusses everything a married couple — or any couple in a long-term relationship — might face.
Ever wish you could get people to talk honestly about the issues in their relationship?Honey is the podcast for you. Actor and writer Julia Meltzer talks to couples about one of their recent arguments, whether it’s deep, uncomfortable or embarrassing. It’s a great way to feel less alone when you’re in a rough patch.
5. #SorryNotSorry
A lighthearted podcast, #SorryNotSorry is a podcast hosted by a married couple who play games and discuss silly topics and mundane ones, all with a wonderful respect for each other. It will make you want to strive for a kinder, more fun relationship with your partner.
6. Unqualified with Anna Faris
It might seem strange to get love advice from a celebrity, but Anna Faris does a remarkable job with Unqualified, getting celebrities to open up about their own relationship ups and downs and share some sage advice to listeners in need while also keeping it fun and lighthearted.
If you’ve ever considered couples therapy but didn’t bite the bullet, Where Should We Begin? could be a breakthrough. Esther Perel is best known for her controversial TED talks on infidelity. In this podcast, each episode is a one-time couples therapy session in which Perel helps the couple work through an issue.
8. Loveline with Amber Rose featuring Dr. Chris Donaghue
In addition to her talk show, Amber Rose hosts this weekly podcast where she and Dr. Chris Donaghue answer listener questions about men, women, sex, feminism and love.
The Heart is more than a podcast; it’s an experience. Each episode is described by the hosts as “immersive performances and sound design that [make] you feel like you've walked into a magic dream world.” The stories about love, identity and sexuality are from a diverse group of of people, guided by the all-queer staff behind the scenes.
10. Dear Sugars
Dear Sugars isn’t just a relationships podcast; it’s a "how to live your life" podcast. With all the compassion of the original advice column, the Sugars read letters from people in all kinds of crises, including whether to get married or divorced and what it’s like to cheat — and be cheated on.
Ah, there's nothing better than feeling the freedom that comes with the lazy days of summer. And there's nothing worse than feeling the horrible sunburn that comes from getting a little too lazy about reapplying sunscreen.
When summer rolls around, most of us are going to be spending long days in the sun as we celebrate. Of course, the best offense is always a good defense, and preventing a burn from happening in the first place is always ideal — but that's a lot easier said than done. If you get a gnarly sunburn, we've got some remedies that can help cool you off, stop the itch and keep you from being one big mess of flaky skin.
Even if your burn isn't super-wicked, these aftercare ideas can help to soothe irritated skin when you've spent too long at the beach.
If you notice your skin start to peel, the first thing you should do is take a cold shower or bath. The cold water will help your skin cool down and slow the peeling process. When you are drying your skin, be sure to pat it dry with a clean, soft towel and avoid rubbing. By rubbing your skin, you can actually speed up and spread the peeling of your skin — and you definitely don't want to do that.
2. Stop the itch
At all costs, you should avoid scratching your skin when it's peeling. You can actually do permanent damage to your skin in the form of scars. If you get the urge to scratch, the best thing to do is to use ice to dull the sensation. Put ice in a piece of soft cloth and gently place the cloth on top of the area of your skin that itches. The itch should subside once the ice begins to cool down the skin.
3. Moisturize your skin
Once you get out of the shower and dry your skin, apply a moisturizing lotion. Look for a moisturizer that is specifically designed to work on sunburned or peeling skin. Generally, the lotion should contain aloe vera, which will cool your skin, reduce inflammation and slow the peeling. Aloe vera is a natural cactus extract that has long been hailed for its soothing properties. You can actually buy pure aloe vera gel (or break open the plant, if you have it) and apply it directly to peeling skin to aid healing, fight pain and avoid infection.
A version of this article was originally published in June 2008.
{pageBreak}
4. Drink up
When you've been out in the sun, it's easy to get dehydrated. Be sure you're drinking plenty of water, and if you notice a headache, it might be a sign that you need to drink a little more.
Flaky, peeling skin is more than just irritating and unattractive — it can also lead to an infection. Peeling skin can become infected if you scratch or try to forcefully peel the skin. If there is a segment of dead skin that is hanging off and you want to remove it, don't pull on it, no matter how tempting it is. Instead, get a small pair of scissors and carefully cut away just that section of skin. Be sure you are only cutting away dead skin and you don't tear skin that is trying to heal. Once you cut away the dead skin, apply an antibacterial ointment like Neosporin to the area.
6. Prevent scarring
Reduce the itch associated with peeling (and moisturize your skin) by taking a cool bath containing colloidal oatmeal. You can find this fine oatmeal in most pharmacies. To help prevent scarring, promote healing and reduce long-term skin damage, take antioxidant supplements — vitamin C and vitamin E. Also apply a topical vitamin E cream to reduce the chances of scarring.
Bonus: Be prepared
Prevention is the best cure for peeling. Plan ahead and don't get sunburned in the first place. By the time your skin starts peeling, the damage has already been done. Before you go out into the sun, always wear sunscreen to protect your skin from harmful ultraviolet rays. If you are going into the water, be sure to reapply sunscreen each time you get out. When applying sunscreen, don't forget about hidden areas, such as behind your ears, which are often forgotten and end up burned.
If you're trying to steer your kids away from cereal and waffles in the morning, it can be hard to convince them that a meal not drenched in syrup or sugar can still be tasty. But kids can be remarkably picky, and as soon as they know there's a fruit or vegetable involved, they might treat breakfast as poison. Luckily, there are smoothies. Full of fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and natural sugars, kids will barely register they're drinking something healthy.
Here are three smoothie recipes my kids can't get enough of — but don't stop here. Have fun mixing and matching your (and your kids') favorite fruits and vegetables to come up with your own smoothie masterpieces.
Directions for smoothies
Add all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. If you find the consistency of your smoothies to be too thick, add small amounts of water or milk until desired consistency is achieved.
Note: If you do not have frozen fruit to use for the smoothies, fresh fruit will work just fine. If using fresh fruit, make sure to add 1-2 cups of ice to the other ingredients before blending.
I feel compelled to alert you, the Shondaland-loving readers in the audience out there, that there is some excellent news coming down the pipeline for you. If Grey's Anatomy is the show that holds the key to your heart, then get excited and maybe consider getting an account with the ABC app or ABC.com; you're gonna need it.
E! News reported on Thursday that yet another Grey's Anatomy spinoff, currently titled Grey's Anatomy: B-Team, is happening in addition to the still-untitled spinoff that is currently in the works. This second spinoff will focus on an entirely new set of characters that you've likely only met peripherally on the show: the Grey Sloan Memorial interns. That's right, folks; we're getting an entire spinoff that will partially reset the show thematically (remember how Grey's Season 1 was all about Meredith and Co. starting their careers as interns?), so we can likely follow a whole new generation of interns the same way we've followed Meredith. Exciting, right?
The show will follow six interns total, which means we get to meet a totally new cast of characters. According to E!, that cast is "Sophia Taylor Ali as Dahlia Qadri, Jake Borelli as Levi Schmitt, Alex Blue Davis as Casey Parker, Jaicy Elliot as Taryn Helm, Rushi Kota as Vik Roy and Jeanine Mason as Sam Bello." And if the character names are too tough to remember, why not just watch the show and put a face to the name?
Oh, did I forget to mention you can watch Grey's Anatomy: B-Team right now? If you go to ABC.com or you have the ABC app, you'll be able to stream the first season right now. So what are you waiting for? Go! Watch!
The internet still hasn't fully come down from its frenzy over Paris Hilton's engagement. The proposal itself was so incredibly extra, and then there was that ring. Did you guys see that thing? It's roughly the same size of the small country that has an annual GDP that matches its price tag.
Here's the thing: Paris Hilton has always been incredibly extra. Even before we used the word "extra" to describe people like Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton was the most extra. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Hilton's wedding will be (all together now) so extra.
Hilton's aunt, Real Housewife Kyle Richards, has already confirmed this.
"[It will be] over the top, just like her ring!" Richards told Us Weekly. But, like, no duh.
It's details we're after here, and we may finally have them. Hilton is about to host the most over-the-top nuptials of all time... by having three weddings in different places around the world. If it's the most important day of your life, why not make it three days?
"For my 21st birthday, I had five parties," she said, "So maybe for the wedding, I’ll have a European one, an American one, one for everyone around the world."
Bless her heart for disguising her desire for multiple giant parties celebrating herself as wanting the whole world to be able to take part.
Even though this is all a little bit ridiculous, Hilton and her fiancé, Chris Zylka, are super-adorable together. During the same interview, he gushed, "She’s my best friend, she’s the most gorgeous thing on the planet, as you can see, and she’s one of the strongest women that I know."
If there's one thing I would likely give most of my earthly possessions for, it's probably seeing Barack Obama dance. No, I am no kidding and yes, if you happen to have some footage of his dance moves lying around, please let me know. Until then I'll just have to imagine what they're like, which is helped along by the fact that recently, Obama opened up to David Letterman about dancing in front of Prince during a (presumably) special, private concert.
Obama's interview with Letterman is one in a series of interviews for the former late-night talk show host's new Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. During this seemingly candid interview, Obama recalls how he showed off his dance moves in front of the late music legend.
Obama Dance Moves Prince Video
Obama Dance Moves Prince Video
"This was probably three or four months before he died and Prince asked Sasha to come up and dance—and she's an excellent dancer," Obama recalled, going on to explain the key to pulling off some good dance moves when you're a dad. The trick? You have to stay "in the pocket."
"Then Sasha pulls me up," he continued, "which surprises me because she always mocks my dancing but I have dad moves. And I think the key is what we call, 'Staying in the pocket.' You gotta stay in the pocket because, I think everybody here knows dads who get out of the pocket, and they're trying stuff that they can't really pull off and they start doing like, karate kicks and all kinds of stuff."
Letterman appeared to get a real kick out of hearing Obama's story and seemed just as interested as what these mysterious "in the pocket" dance moves look like as I do. Seriously, Mr. Former POTUS, when are you gonna show them to us? Inquiring minds are dying to know.
For most of my scholastic life, my least favorite day at school was the first one after summer vacation.
“Let’s all go around the room and tell one fun fact about ourselves,” the teacher would say, and I would silently start to panic. I had no fun fact — nothing I had deemed unique enough to stand up and proclaim in a room of my peers. My hands would dampen. My brain would race. And by the time it was my turn, I was in a complete panic.
After being diagnosed in 2011 with breast cancer, I jokingly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I would forever have an opener, a unique fact about myself that few in my peer group could relate to. Of course, by this time, I was long out of school, and these day-one icebreakers were relegated to my attempts to rejoin the workforce after about a year of blank space on my résumé.
“So where were you in 2011?” potential employers would ask.
I would explain the diagnosis, the surgery, the chemotherapy, the radiation and the fact that my previous employer had eliminated my position while I was recovering from treatment.
“You’re a survivor. That’s amazing,” they would proclaim, and I would cringe.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the sentiment, and in a sense, it is correct. The definition of a survivor is, “a person who survives, especially a person remaining alive after an event in which others have died.” It’s the notion that a survivor has braved it all and that’s it. That’s the end. But that’s not my reality. I’m not a survivor; I’m surviving.
I survived what I see as the first phase of having breast cancer. It’s the surgery and the exhaustion, the chemicals that course through your body and the countless hours spent in various doctor’s offices.
The next phase, for me, is staying alive. It’s surviving. It’s making sure the cancer doesn’t come back, because as much as my oncologist tells me, “We threw the book at your cancer,” he has never once said to me, “This will never happen to you again,” because he can’t make that promise.
He can’t swear to me that I’ll never have to go through this again. I will always have six-month blood tests and follow-ups with multiple doctors. Every year, I will have a mammogram, and I will have to take a Xanax before I step foot into the cold and antiseptic room where my right breast gets flattened like a pancake.
Every year, tears will spring to my eyes if the doctor takes more than 10 minutes to read my results and call me into their office to go through them. My hands will dampen. My brain will race. Every twitch, every twinge, every time something feels out of place, I have the fleeting thought in the back of my head, “Oh, shit.”
It’s nothing I have control over. It’s nothing I will ever have control over, and that’s a notion I’ve come to accept and gets easier over time.
But the next time you meet someone who’s going through cancer or who’s just gotten a clean bill of health, maybe think twice before calling them a survivor. The survivor has already lived. The surviving are the ones that go on living.
With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding on the horizon, it seems the entire world has come down with royal fever. It's hard not to become intoxicated by the couple who seem to have walked straight out of a fairy tale. It's also not hard to understand why we're seeing royals in our films and TV shows too.
While you're probably familiar with the Netflix show The Crown, about Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) and Prince Philip (Matt Smith), there's also a show, called Victoria, about another royal couple. It tells the often romantic and sometimes scandalous story of Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) and Queen Victoria (Jenna Coleman), the royals who led Great Britain into the Victorian era, a time of peace and scientific enlightenment.
Victoria airs on PBS and is finally back for Season 2, so we thought we'd take a closer look at their real marriage. All families have secrets, and royal families are no different. Here are seven things you need to know about the real Victoria and Albert.
First cousins Victoria and Albert met when they were both just 16. Both expressed fondness for each other in letters written to family members, but the idea of a marriage between them only occurred when their mutual uncle Leopold suggested it. By then, Victoria was already queen, and Albert was forbidden from proposing to the royal, so it was Victoria who popped the question. They married in 1840, and she wrote this about her wedding night: "...his excessive love and affection gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms and we kissed each other again and again! His beauty, his sweetness and gentleness — really how can I ever be thankful enough for such a husband."
2. The "shadow side of marriage"
Victoria and Albert's marriage was clearly a passionate one, and it produced nine children. In the 19th century, childbirth was a truly dangerous affair due to the high mortality rate and incredible pain. But hope was nearby. As medicine progressed, anesthesia in the form of chloroform became available, but it was highly controversial. Because the Bible says women are meant to bear children in pain due to Eve's betrayal in the Garden of Eden, most doctors and husbands were against anesthesia. Luckily, both Victoria's doctors and her husband agreed to give it a try. Once the people of England heard their beloved queen was using chloroform, it became common for other women to use it too. Thank goodness!
Albert was intelligent and enterprising, but despite his love for Victoria often felt frustrated by his lack of power. But as Victoria grew more and more occupied with pregnancy and breastfeeding — which she called "disgusting," saying it made her feel more "...like a rabbit or a guinea pig than anything else and not very nice" — Albert took on more responsibilities. Victoria resented Albert at times, and though he was quite capable, she was the queen of England after all, and the power struggle often led to huge fights. At one point, after one of her "temper tantrums," Albert began to worry his wife had inherited madness from her grandfather, King George III.
4. Shots ring out
It was customary for the queen and the prince to ride in an open-air carriage and wave to their subjects. From 1840 to 1882, Victoria was shot at no fewer than six times while in her carriage. Most of the assailants, all male, were ruled to be insane. One man, ex-army officer Robert Pate, struck the queen with his cane. Though it was risky to ride unprotected in public, her subjects were sympathetic to the threats on her life and her popularity rose.
5. Humanitarians
Because the crown had to appear neutral on subjects like politics, Prince Albert was able to give humanitarian issues a voice. He often spoke out against slavery. Though the slave trade was abolished in England in 1807, it was still taking place throughout British colonies. Albert contributed to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, making it illegal throughout the empire. Albert also spoke out about child labor and helped abolish the practice of dueling between army officers.
6. Albert's untimely death
In 1861, a scandal emerged regarding the royal couple's eldest son, Bertie (who would become King Edward VII). The 19-year-old was in Ireland training with the army and had several sexual trysts with actress Nellie Clifden. Word got back to Albert, and he went to Cambridge, where Bertie was going to school, to counsel him on morality. They had long talks outdoors in the rain, which it is thought proved to be fatal for Albert. Albert came down with typhoid fever and died three weeks later. He was 42. Victoria blamed her son for Albert's death until the day she died.
7. Victoria after Albert
Victoria was devastated by Albert's death. She became a single mom to nine kids and lost the love of her life. Publicly, she went into mourning, donning black dresses for 25 years. But it's widely believed she became romantically involved with her Scottish servant John Brown, often sleeping in a room adjoining his. Their story is told in the film Mrs. Brown. After Brown's death, Victoria became close with Abdul Karim, a Muslim from India, who became her closest confidant. Her family despised him, and immediately after her death in 1901 ordered all their letters burned and deported him back to India. Their story is told in the recent film Victoria & Abdul.
While all queens have complicated and intriguing lives, the sheer number of movies and TV shows based on Queen Victoria prove how influential and beloved she remains. Season 2 of Victoria premieres on Jan. 14 on your local PBS station as part of the Masterpiece series.
The common culinary practice of throwing live lobsters into boiling water to cook them has been thrown out the window — in Switzerland, at least. On Wednesday, Jan. 10, the Swiss government effectively banned the boiling water method and ruled that lobsters must be stunned before boiling.
This ruling, which takes effect March 1, comes amid scientific evidence and concern from animal rights advocates that lobsters are able to feel pain.
According to PETA, lobsters have a sophisticated nervous system. Invertebrate zoologist Jaren G. Horsley tells them, “The lobster does not have an automatic nervous system that puts it into a state of shock when it is harmed. It probably feels itself being cut… As an invertebrate zoologist who has studied crustaceans for a number of years, I can tell you the lobster has a rather sophisticated nervous system that, among other things, allows it to sense actions that will cause it harm. [Lobsters] can, I am sure, sense pain.”
So, what’s the most humane way to kill a lobster?
First, let’s define humane slaughter. According to the Humane Slaughter Association, it is as follows: “As with mammals, a humane slaughter is one that results in an immediate loss of consciousness, or if slow-acting, induces unconsciousness without discomfort or pain. This unconsciousness should persist until death intervenes.”
Once the new rule takes effect, only electric shock or the “mechanical destruction” of the lobster’s brain will be accepted methods of stunning the animals, according to Swiss public broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse and the Humane Slaughter Association. Once you stun the lobster, it’s recommended you kill it immediately.
If you want to humanely cook your lobster at home, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Australia has created step-by-step instructions that can be found here.
Another option is using the aquatic fish anesthetic AQUI-S. According to studies, this kills lobsters without causing pain or distress.
With so many options for humane ways to cook a lobster, it seems crazy to keep utilizing such a cruel cooking method. Let's hope other countries follow in Switzerland's footsteps and ban the inhumane act of boiling live lobsters.
Pickles, potato chips, chocolate — pretty common pregnancy cravings, right? Well, Kristin Johnston's cravings were not so simple. She craved the savory deliciousness of Taco Bell Crunch Wraps, beefy burritos and tacos. When it came time to take her maternity photos, she figured she would honor her hankering for spicy food by taking her maternity pictures at one of her favorite places: Taco Bell.
Though she loves the beautiful maternity photos she sees on Pinterest with a woman on a mountaintop or on a beach in a flowing gown, Johnston explained in her personal blog that she wanted "something spicier" for her second pregnancy. In an attempt to stray away from the usual glamorous and majestic-looking pictures, Johnston wanted to be captured in her "natural state." Glamour, however, still made its way into the shoot, as she wore a red long-sleeve dress with a train finished off with a pearl necklace and bracelet set.
The shoot took place at a Taco Bell location in Atlanta, Georgia. In her blog, Johnston described the restaurant as "a place that many of us have a fondness for in our hearts." The photos were taken by her close friend, Kelly Daniels, but Johnston edited them herself.
Shot both inside and outside this fast-food establishment, some of the images included Johnston posing underneath the Taco Bell bell at the front door and behind the ordering counter where the colorful menu was her backdrop. Johnston also had herself photographed flaunting her baby bump with packets of mild sauce and indulging in a Fiery Doritos Locos Taco.
"Huge thanks to Taco Bell for always being there for me in my time of taco needs," said Johnston. "[It's] a place that I can turn to anytime when I don't have the energy to cook dinner."
Johnston introduced a new spin on maternity photo shoots and has since welcomed her new baby to the world. But for a woman who loves tacos as much as she does, we doubt her spicy cravings will subside.
In today's edition of "job openings you never thought you'd see in your lifetime," the queen is now hiring for a bra fitter.
After nearly 60 years, the queen's lingerie supplier, Rigby & Peller, is out, having lost their royal warrant, which is issued to tradespeople and companies who regularly supply goods or services to the monarchy.
June Kenton, who is on the board for the luxury underwear firm and began working with the queen in the early '80s, published the book Storm in a D-Cup in March 2017 that cost her the title of the queen's official corsetiere. According to the BBC, Kenton was told six months ago Buckingham Palace "didn't like the book," which gave details of her royal visits.
Serving members of the royal family, including the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, Kenton regularly visited Buckingham Palace.
"I'm very sad Buckingham Palace took exception to the story," Kenton said in a statement. "It's a kind and gentle story about what went on in my life. I only ever said I went there, not what happened. I have never, ever spoken about what I do there with her, or the Queen Mother or Princess Margaret."
June Kenton tweet
June Kenton tweet
Kenton continues to call the incident "unbelievable."
"It's just upsetting at the end of my life, but what can I do," she says. "I can't fight with Buckingham Palace, and I wouldn't want to, but it's hard. I've been honorable throughout my life. It's unbelievable they don't like the book, there's nothing in it that they could remotely be upset about. It's a sweet story of a corsetiere. I probably should have submitted it to them, but I didn't think anything would be required."
Rigby & Peller also responded via statement saying it was "deeply saddened" by the decision and was "not able to elaborate further on the cancellation out of respect for her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Warrant Holders Association."
Now that Rigby & Peller are out, how does one get a royal warrant? It's all up to the monarchy, and it's a long process.
According to the Royal Warrant Holders Association website, companies have to supply the royal family with goods or services for at least five years before they can apply for a warrant. The queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales make up the grantors, who award royal warrants. Once a royal warrant is granted, it is good for five years. After five years, the warrant must be reviewed again.
In light of five new sexual harassment allegations against him on Thursday, James Franco is laying low. Even though his move The Disaster Artist is continuing a successful award show run, Franco skipped Thursday's Critics Choice Awards and wasn't there to collect the award he won for Best Actor in a Comedy.
The award was presented during the one-hour pre-show by Vice Principals star Walton Goggins. The pre-show was streamed online before the main show was broadcast. When Goggins announced that Franco was the winner in the category, there was a small smattering of applause before Goggins announced that Franco wasn't there to accept the award. It was definitely a pretty awkward moment.
James Franco wins Critics choice award and isn't there
James Franco wins Critics choice award and isn't there
Considering that Franco has now been accused of sexual misconduct by so many women, he likely made the right choice to stay home from the ceremony. We've already seen these kinds of accusations topple the careers of men more powerful than Franco — Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K. and Kevin Spacey, to name a few. And while Franco's attorney keeps denying that's there's any truth to any of the claims (Franco himself hasn't made a public statement since the new allegations were published Thursday), five accounts from five separate women are hard to ignore.
In the days of the #MeToo movement and the Time's Up initiative, patience for this kind of behavior — both in Hollywood and among the public — is wearing increasingly thin. Franco is now learning that his actions have consequences, like powerful men before him have learned in recent months, and like powerful men after him will learn in months to come.
At any given moment, I have three or four to-do lists going. Do I need this many? Probably not. Do I add things to the lists that I've either already completed or are very close to finishing just so I can have the satisfaction of crossing something off? Absolutely, I do. Well, it turns out this doesn't just help me keep my scattered thoughts organized. It may also be helping me sleep.
According to new research out of Baylor University, making a to-do list — specifically, before bed — can help contribute to a better night's sleep. In the study, the researchers looked at the sleep patterns of people who set aside five minutes before they went to bed to write down their upcoming tasks and duties and compared them against other participants, who chronicled the activities they have already completed.
"We live in a 24/7 culture in which our to-do lists seem to be constantly growing and causing us to worry about unfinished tasks at bedtime," lead author Dr. Michael K. Scullin, director of Baylor's Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory and assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, said in a statement. "Most people just cycle through their to-do lists in their heads, and so we wanted to explore whether the act of writing them down could counteract nighttime difficulties with falling asleep."
The study, published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Experimental Psychology, took place in a sleep lab, which controlled for elements like technology and light. It had 57 student participants.
So, why is thinking about what you still have to accomplish better than focusing on what you've already achieved better for sleep?
"There are two schools of thought about this," Scullin said in the statement. "One is that writing about the future would lead to increased worry about unfinished tasks and delay sleep, while journaling about completed activities should not trigger worry. The alternative hypothesis is that writing a to-do list will ‘offload’ those thoughts and reduce worry," he added. At the conclusion of the study, they found it was the latter.
But can a group of 57 college students really tell us something about our sleep habits? Scullin said that while the sample size was typical for this type of research, a larger-scale study would be helpful.
“Measures of personality, anxiety and depression might moderate the effects of writing on falling asleep, and that could be explored in an investigation with a larger sample,” he said. “We recruited healthy young adults, and so we don’t know whether our findings would generalize to patients with insomnia, though some writing activities have previously been suggested to benefit such patients.”
So, what do you have to lose? You might as well take five minutes to write out what you need to accomplish tomorrow before going to bed tonight. Even if it doesn't help your sleep, it'll still be a useful thing to have in the morning.
